Good morning,
I just wanted to give an update since having my surgery in December 2020 in hopes that it may help others. I had my left styloid removed from Dr. David Cognetti at Thomas Jefferson. Most of my symptoms have gone except tightness in left shoulder and vertigo, which is def. both connected. I also still have first bite, a few times a week, but it’s not as bad as it was and I believe my nerves are still healing.
I have been treating/healing myself through meditation (daily), yoga, neck stretching and maintaining a healthy lifestyle with diet and supplements. One realization is that my vagus nerve was damaged. I have been watching/following youtube videos on re-activating the vagus nerve as well as taking a supplement that I feel is really helping called Parasym Plus. I came across it while listening to a podcast and have seen a difference in the past 2 months. I believe that my posture was affected by the Eagle’s syndrome and is the reason for the neck and shoulder pain still there. I am also watching youtube videos and following the stretches to help postural restoration and found the Alexander Method videos to be helpful. It’s all a daily practice, but just wanted to give those some reassurance that there is light at the end of the tunnel if you are suffering. I have found a lot of help with acupuncture and chiropractic as well visiting a wellness center to detox other organs of my body to take control of my health. Thanks for those who have posted, I truly love reading your journey 
Thanh you so very much for posting your story. I’m just past the six month mark. My journey has been a lot harder than I expected. But your story gives me hope, thanks for sharing.
It’s good that surgery has helped & that you’re finding treatments to help with the remaining symptoms! The Youtube videos sound interesting & may help others, so thanks for sharing that 
I hope that you carry on seeing improvements & thank you for your update!
jurban,
It’s great to read how far you’ve come in your recovery & that you’ve found alternate therapies for your remaining symptoms. Thank you for sharing your resources with us. I’ll have to check them out. 
Hi Jurban,
I had my 2nd surgery in December 2020 also. Im still dealing with neck and shoulder tightness too but I also have neck instability due to ehlers danlos-hypermobility and on-going TMJ issues. I have used a combination of therapies including OT from a therapist who is big into postural restoration and many of the efforts you are doing. I totally agree that our posture is effected by the chronic pain and muscle tightness caused in part by Eagles. It sure sounds like you are on the road to recovery and taking an active part in it. I have found the detox alone can help you feel better. I dont know if you have heard of cranio-sacral therapy? Although there are alot of PT people that claim to know it, (a couple weekend classes) a true practitioner is hard to find. Usually a seasoned osteopathic doctor is well versed in it.I have found it to be very helpful in releasing the muscle tightness in neck and skull. An osteopath also suggested working on my core strength which supports healthy posture by doing Pilates. Glad you healing well and like hearing some good news and updates there is a life after eagles.
It is 6 months for my surgery. I got it done in San Jose with Dr. SamJi I still have first byte sensitivity, and also my neck and bottom right ear still feels numb, and dont feel any benefit on the neck pain and headache. I feel surgery did not help me much. I saw an Orthopedics after 4 months of the Surgery, and according to him it is more like a nerve pinch issue, and steroid shots may help alleviate the pain. Wondering if anyone else had similar issue? Did anyone try acupuncture or if any specific yoga posture that helped? thanks! and wish you all a wonderful year ahead!
So sorry that your surgery didn’t help you much…I know some have tried dry needling, cold laser therapy (in case there’s scar tissue), & there’s several recent discussions about massage, muscle weakness & poor posture causing issues by KoolDude & vdm if you have time for a read…
I hope that you can find something which helps you, thinking of you…
I’m sorry, too, that ES surgery didn’t help a lot. The FBS & facial/neck numbness can take a year to go away. I do still have FBS after 7 years, but it’s very mild compared to the first year. I also have a numb section on my lower jaw from my second surgery, a little around my left neck scar & some nerve pain on my right jaw joint that only hurts if I poke it (so I don’t). These things don’t bother me anymore because I really don’t notice them (except the FBS).
Jules made a good note about head/neck posture. It would be great if you could read the information that has been posted by about “military neck” aka “forward head posture” aka “upper crossed syndrome”. There are also many good YouTube videos on that topic that could be informative. Doing some of the suggested exercises might be very helpful for your neck pain. If the pain is bad enough, you might try requesting a nerve pain medication to see if that helps calm things down for you. Cranio-sacral therapy has also been recommended by some of our members but that needs to be done by someone who is very experienced.
Here is a video that vdm posted today that has some really interesting info related to neck/shoulder relationship & function: Best Shoulder Exercises with Dr. Evan Osar of CIMS in Chicago - YouTube
Unfortunately, the closest we can get to dry needling in California is acupuncture. Cold laser is available here & could also be helpful for you.
I hope all this info is helpful.
Thank you who posted and provided great resources. I got acupuncture done 3 times, it did not seem to be helping so far, may be 3 is not enough. Will continue seeking other options.
Wish you all a great year ahead.
Acupuncture, cold laser, massage, etc. can take some months to really help. None of them are quick fixes. Also getting a better idea of what’s causing your pain i.e. is it a postural issue causing your pinched nerve(s), something left over from surgery, or ? will help you a lot in figuring out the best way to treat it. Just masking pain w/ medication isn’t as effective as finding what the cause is & treating that… Pain meds do help us cope better as we sleuth out the cause(s).